A practical co-simulation approach for multiscale analysis of geotechnical systems     

Ahmed Elmekati  Usama El Shamy 《Computers and Geotechnics》2010

The particulate nature of granular soils can be accurately simulated at a microscale level. However, due to the huge spatial extent of geotechnical systems, a model fully constructed at such a scale is almost impossible with current computing technologies. Hence, continuum-based approaches are considered as the practical scale for modeling the majority of problems. Combining both scales enables benefiting from the advantages of both techniques while trying to overcome their drawbacks. Although a significant number of publications have addressed coupling both scales, only a few provide information regarding implementing the proposed procedures. In this study, an efficient co-simulation framework for conducting multiscale analysis is introduced. The framework is based on integrating existing continuum and micromechanical modeling software packages and therefore benefitting from already existing codes. A computational simulation of a rigid pile in contact with granular soil demonstrating the capabilities of such technique is presented. The near-field zone surrounding the pile is modeled using DEM whereas FEM is utilized to model far-field zones that are not affected by the presence of the pile. Results of conducted simulations resemble those obtained from experimental results. The proposed approach appears to be a very effective and promising tool to model boundary value problems of geotechnical systems.  相似文献   

Reply to the comment by Michard et al. on “Tectonic relationships of Southwest Iberia with the allochthons of Northwest Iberia and the Moroccan Variscides”     

José Fernando Simancas  Antonio Azor  David Martínez-Poyatos  Abdelfatah Tahiri  Hassan El Hadi  Francisco González-Lodeiro  Andrés Pérez-Estaún  Ramón Carbonell 《Comptes Rendus Geoscience》2010,342(2):175-177

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Forced folding of the neoautochthonous Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary sequence at the western end of the Hatta Zone, Northern Oman Mountains     

Mohammed Warrak 《Arabian Journal of Geosciences》2010,3(4):369-393

At the western end of the Hatta Zone (the Jebel Rawdha area), Northern Oman Mountains, the neoautochthonous Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary sequence (“cover”) lies with an angular unconformity on the obducted Semail ophiolite, Haybi Complex and Sumeini Group (“basement”). Structural analysis of the faults in both the basement and cover sequences has shown that they are similar in type and configuration to those that develop in a transpressional left-lateral strike-slip deformational regime (a restraining bend) that is characterised by the dominance of the dip-slip component over the strike-slip component. The WNW–ESE (P_o) faults together with the linking NW–SE (P) faults have divided the basement into elongated blocks. These blocks, in turn, are subdivided by transverse normal faults into horst and graben sub-blocks. The cover sequence is gently folded into a generally WNW–ESE-trending ‘Main’ folds and NE–SW-trending ‘Cross’ folds superimposed on them. These folds appear to be dominantly forced folds that developed as a result of repeated uplift and depression of basement blocks. Their trends correspond to the trends of the subjacent basement blocks. Hence, the Jebel Rawdha folds trend differently from other post-obduction major folds in the foreland region of the Northern Oman Mountains, such as the Hafit and Jebel Faiyah folds. Differences in stratigraphic thicknesses and lateral facies changes of the cover sequence within the blocks and sub-blocks indicate that the earliest differential movement of the blocks must have occurred during the early Maastrichtian, and the latest movement in post-mid-Eocene. Thus, pushing back the initiation of the post-obduction deformation in the Northern Oman Mountains to the early Maastrichtian.  相似文献   

The Role of Coffee in the Development of Southwest Ethiopia's Forests: Farmers' Strategies,Investor Speculation,and Certification Projects     

Samir El Ouaamari  Hubert Cochet 《社会与自然资源》2014,27(2):200-214

This article examines the role of coffee in the agriculture of southwest Ethiopian highlands, a context characterized by recent huge private coffee estate developments, coffee certification projects and smallholdings. The analysis shows that smallholder farmers prioritize staple crops, and allocate land and labor to coffee only once food production objectives have been reached. It also underscores the diversity of the local peasantry, often treated as a homogeneous group in development projects designed to boost farmers' income through coffee production. Based on this analysis, the article evaluates the effects of recent coffee-oriented development policies: state forest concessions for coffee investment, and two coffee certification projects (UTZ-Certified and Fair-Trade/Organic). Because they omit the differentiated farmers' strategies, these certification initiatives fail to improve local populations' livelihoods and accelerate incipient socioeconomic inequalities. Moreover, when applied to big private plantations, they participate in farmers' dispossession from critical forest resources essential to households' food self-sufficiency.  相似文献   

Streaming potential in a deformed porous medium and geophysical applications     

I. N. El’tsov  V. V. Shelukhin  M. I. Epov 《Doklady Earth Sciences》2014,454(2):189-192

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Spatial distribution and contamination assessment of heavy metals in surface soils of Hassi Messaoud, Algeria   总被引：9，自引：0，他引：9  

Mohammed L. Benhaddya  Mohammed Hadjel 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2014,71(3):1473-1486

An increase in heavy metal pollution in the soils of Hassi Messaoud (Algeria) due to intense industrialization and urbanization has become a serious environmental problem. There are three large industrial complexes that have been established in the region of Hassi Messaoud for petroleum extraction field and refinery. The region hosts several industrial facilities which are the main sources for hazardous wastes. Surface soil samples from 58 sampling sites (systematically sampled; 1 × 1 km regular grid), including different functional areas in Hassi Messaoud, were collected and analyzed. The results showed that the average concentrations of Cu, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn in soil of Hassi Messaoud were up to 13.17, 35.78, 121.21, 130.97 and 61.08 mg/kg, respectively. Ni concentrations were comparable to background values, while Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn concentrations were higher than their corresponding background values. Among the functional areas, the industrial regions displayed the highest metal concentrations, while the lowest concentrations occurred in rural soil. Principal component analysis coupled with cluster analysis showed that: (1) Pb and Zn had anthropogenic sources; and (2) Ni, Cu and Mn were associated with parent materials. Contaminations in soils were classified as geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor. Pollution index values of Cu, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn varied in the range of 0.04–5.41, 0.46–2.49, 0.01–5.73, 0.62–152.9 and 0.09–53.01, with mean values of 1.32, 1.08, 1.26, 5.64 and 3.1, respectively. The integrated pollution index (IPI) of all the analyzed samples varied from 0.42 to 31.59, with a mean of 2.48, and more than 5.45 % of samples are extremely contaminated; 18.18 % are heavily contaminated; 60 % are moderately contaminated; and others are low contaminated. The spatial distribution of IPI showed that desert and rural areas displayed relatively lower heavy metal contamination in comparison with other areas.  相似文献   

Rock slope stability and design in Arafat–Muzdalifa area,Saudi Arabia     

Ali M. A. Abd-Allah  E. K. El-Sawy  El-Sayed Sedek Abu Seif  Abdelhamid El-Fakharani  Mohammed Amin M. Sharaf 《Arabian Journal of Geosciences》2014,7(10):4029-4042

The present contribution is a complete study extending before, during, and after the excavation of the mountain side that lying north of road 7. It includes slope stability analysis, rock cut design, and rockfall modeling for natural slope and rock cut face. Neoproterozoic granodiorite and biotite granite forming the slope body have medium to very high strengths. Mineral compositions and textures of these intact rocks control the strength values. These rocks are intensively dissected by fractures that are filled with montmorillonite and chlorite. The high plasticity and slippery nature of these filling materials represent the main problem that may face a rock cut designer because they damage the mechanical properties of these fractures. The problem begins with the selection of the rock mass classification that deals with the fracture fillings and extends during the stability analysis and the suggestion of mitigation and supporting measures. The rock masses building the natural slope are suffered by plane, wedge, and toppling failures. Therefore, two rock cut designs are suggested to avoid the hazards related to these failures and considering the construction cost as well. Rockfall modeling for the natural slope and rock cut designs was done to assess the hazards related to these falling of the blocks. The kinetic energy of falling blocks is represented on the roadway by the coverage distance and block rebound amplitude. Slope height has a positive effect on the values of these distance and amplitude, whereas the steepness of berm height has a negative effect on them. Coverage distance is a function to the location of rockfall barrier and to the width of road ditch, while the amplitude controls the barrier height.  相似文献   

Petroleum system analysis of the Khatatba Formation in the Shoushan Basin,north Western Desert,Egypt     

Mohamed Ragab Shalaby  Mohammed Hail Hakimi  Wan Hasiah Abdullah 《Arabian Journal of Geosciences》2014,7(10):4303-4320

The Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation is an attractive petroleum exploration target in the Shoushan Basin, north Western Desert, Egypt. However, the Khatatba petroleum system with its essential elements and processes has not been assigned yet. This study throws the lights on the complete Khatatba petroleum system in the Shoushan Basin which has been evaluated and collectively named the Khatatba-Khatatba (!) petroleum system. To evaluate the remaining hydrocarbon potential of the Khatatba system, its essential elements were studied, in order to determine the timing of hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation. Systematic analysis of the petroleum system of the Khatatba Formation has identified that coaly shales and organic-rich shales are the most important source rocks. These sediments are characterised by high total organic matter content and have good to excellent hydrocarbon generative potential. Kerogen is predominantly types II–III with type III kerogen. The Khatatba source rocks are mature and, at the present time, are within the peak of the oil window with vitrinite reflectance values in the range of 0.81 to 1.08 % Ro. The remaining hydrocarbon potential is anticipated to exist mainly in stratigraphic traps in the Khatatba sandstones which are characterised by fine to coarse grain size, moderate to well sorted. It has good quality reservoir with relatively high porosity and permeability values ranging from 1 to 17 % and 0.05–1,000 mD, respectively. Modelling results indicated that hydrocarbon generation from the Khatatba source rocks began in the Late Cretaceous time and peak of hydrocarbon generation occurred during the end Tertiary time (Neogene). Hydrocarbon primarily migrated from the source rock via fractured pathways created by abnormally high pore pressures resulting from hydrocarbon generation. Hydrocarbon secondarily migrated from active Khatatba source rocks to traps side via vertical migration pathways through faults resulting from Tertiary tectonics during period from end Oligocene to Middle Miocene times.  相似文献   

Tectonic evolution of the Southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt: a comparison between depocenter and near peripheral basins   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Mohamed A. Omran  Mohamed S. El Sharawy 《Arabian Journal of Geosciences》2014,7(1):87-107

The sedimentary pattern of the southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt, especially during the Cenozoic rift stage, was controlled mainly by tectonic activities (subsidence and uplift) and sea level change. The stratigraphic record of the southern Gulf of Suez can be divided into two megasequences: pre-rift and syn-rift. The pre-rift megasequence can be viewed as two distinctive depositional regimes, clastic rocks of continental to braided stream environment during Cambrian and open marine transgression extended from Upper Cretaceous till Eocene. The syn-rift deposits showed a distinctive contrast between the depocenter and peripheral basins. This difference can be shown clearly on the sedimentary sequence of Hilal and Shoab Ali oilfields. The syn-rift megasequence can be differentiated in relation to rift evolution into the following stages: initial rift stage with low subsidence rate, main rift stage with maximum subsidence rate, quiescence stage with the slowest subsidence rate throughout the rift evolution, evaporite stage with restriction conditions, and Pliocene–Recent stage with shallow marine condition.  相似文献   

Diagenesis in the Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation sandstones in the Shoushan Basin,northern Western Desert,Egypt     

Mohamed R. Shalaby  Mohammed H. Hakimi  Wan Hasiah Abdullah 《Geological Journal》2014,49(3):239-255

The Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation acts as a hydrocarbon reservoir in the subsurface in the Western Desert, Egypt. This study, which is based on core samples from two exploration boreholes, describes the lithological and diagenetic characteristics of the Khatatba Formation sandstones. The sandstones are fine‐ to coarse‐grained, moderately to well‐sorted quartz arenites, deposited in fluvial channels and in a shallow‐marine setting. Diagenetic components include mechanical and chemical compaction, cementation (calcite, clay minerals, quartz overgrowths, and a minor amount of pyrite), and dissolution of calcite cements and feldspar grains. The widespread occurrence of an early calcite cement suggests that the Khatatba sandstones lost a significant amount of primary porosity at an early stage of its diagenetic history. In addition to calcite, several different cements including kaolinite and syntaxial quartz overgrowth occur as pore‐filling and pore‐lining cements. Kaolinite (largely vermicular) fills pore spaces and causes reduction in the permeability of the reservoir. Based on framework grain–cement relationships, precipitation of the early calcite cement was either accompanied by or followed the development of part of the pore‐lining and pore‐filling cements. Secondary porosity development occurred due to partial to complete dissolution of early calcite cements and feldspar. Late kaolinite clay cement occurs due to dissolved feldspar and has an impact on the reservoir quality of the Khatatba sandstones. Open hydraulic fractures also generated significant secondary porosity in sandstone reservoirs, where both fractures and dissolution took place in multiple phases during late diagenetic stages. The diagenesis and sedimentary facies help control the reservoir quality of the Khatatba sandstones. Fluvial channel sandstones have the highest porosities and permeabilities, in part because of calcite cementation, which inhibited authigenic clays or was later dissolved, creating intergranular secondary porosity. Fluvial crevasse‐splay and marine sandstones have the lowest reservoir quality because of an abundance of depositional kaolinite matrix and pervasive, shallow‐burial calcite and quartz overgrowth cements, respectively. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献